"Once I stepped through the portal, I found myself in the forest where Gym Leader Korrina rescued me. Since then, I've been quarantined and in the custody of the League..." concluded Jason, wrapping up his account in a calm, neutral tone.
"To think that a planet could undergo evolution...fascinating..." remarked Professor Burnet, her yellow eyes gleaming with intrigue as she picked up and turned off her recorder.
"If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't believe it," affirmed Jason, exhaling faintly from his nose as he added, "But here I am...free for your people to poke and prod..."
Staring at Jason with her right brow raised, Professor Burnet questioned, "Have the personnel here been mistreating you?"
"Not in particular..." responded Jason, shaking his head before adding, "But, while I understand the necessity of these procedures, that doesn't make them feel any less invasive..."
"Mmn...fair enough..." conceded Professor Burnet, looking around Jason's room and noticing there was nothing for him to do. She imagined that she would also get a little stir crazy being detained without something to do or distract her, so with that in mind, she proposed, "I could have the staff bring in a TV or something for you to read. We appear to speak the same language, so you shouldn't have any trouble reading."
"I would like to learn more about this world..." confirmed Jason, nodding. Before Burnet could respond, he then asserted, "But there's already one thing I know for certain—I'm weak. Rather than spending my time reading or seeking distractions, I'd rather have weights or training equipment. Can that be arranged?"
"I don't see why not?" responded Professor Burnet, crossing her arms as she contended, "And it's good that you're thinking about how best to live in this world, because I'll be honest—the odds of us finding a way for you to return are slim. At the very least, we'd need to analyze the energy from the portal you passed through and develop a device to hopefully detect it elsewhere. I have something like what we'd require back in my lab, but it's calibrated to detect a very specific form of energy."
"I understand that the odds are slim," affirmed Jason, a faint, somewhat excited smile adorning his face as he remarked, "But we wouldn't be here speaking if it were impossible. I will accept and be thankful for any help I receive, but I will also understand if the League decides to wash its hands of this matter. This is ultimately my problem to solve. All I ask is that they do not prohibit me from trying..."
"Wow, kid. You've got some serious gumption for someone who would barely be ten years old by our world's standards..." remarked Professor Burnet, nodding approvingly. Then, noticing the moderate confusion on Jason's face, she raised her brow and asked, "Oh? Were you not aware of how long a year is in our world? We also count by revolutions around our parent star, and around here, that's 687 days."
Blinking in surprise at the revelation, Jason stared at Burnet like he was expecting her to reveal she was joking. When she didn't, he ignored the tightening of his throat to ask, "I know it's generally considered rude to ask a woman her age, but—"
"I'm twenty-six this year," interjected Professor Burnet, slipping her right arm from its sleeve and showing off her developed biceps as she added, "And to put that in perspective, it's not unheard of for people in our world to live past a hundred years. Don't go thinking I'm old just because I have white hair. It's a trait I inherited from my mother's side of the family."
Doing the math in his head, Jason was astonished to realize that, by his world's standards, the fit and extremely attractive woman before him was forty-seven. And if it was true that people in her world could survive to be more than a hundred, that meant they could live to be nearly two hundred by his world's standards...
"Is there a need to look so surprised?" asked Professor Burnet, fixing her lab coat as she remarked, "If you're a suitable reference for what a young, relatively healthy male is like from your world, then most of your populace would be considered sick by our standards. There was a shocking amount of contaminants that came up in your blood work, including trace amounts of carcinogens, plastics, lead, and compound fluoride. Did you grow up in a chemical plant or something?"
Shaking his head, Jason revealed, "I grew up in a town that shares my surname in a state called Tennessee. But you're not wrong in saying the people of my world were unhealthy compared to this one. That's one of many things I'm not looking forward to returning to..."
"Well, at least you can be healthy while you're here," asserted Professor Burnet, shrugging dismissively before asking, "That said, what would you say to returning with me to my lab? I'm from a collection of islands called the Alola Region. We lack some of the conveniences of the mainland, but if you directly assist with my research, we could increase the likelihood of your returning home from astronomical to unlikely."
"That's likely my best bet if I want to return quickly..." conceded Jason. "But arrangements have already been made for me to stay and receive an education at the Shalour City Gym. More than that, I feel indebted to Gym Leader Korrina and would like to repay her as best as I can before moving on."
"I get that. Wanting to repay those who have helped you is a good thing," affirmed Burnet. "But, as you pointed out, coming with me is your best bet if you want to return—not just quickly, but at all. If you want, how about I ask Korrina to join us? Her grandfather still has the qualifications of a Gym Leader, and it wouldn't be the first time he took over for her. It's common for Gym Leaders to travel a few months out of the year, and as a PR Video Star, Korrina is one of those who gets around a lot."
"If she's willing, I have no reason to refuse..." answered Jason, offering a curt nod. That seemed to satisfy Professor Burnet greatly as a very broad smile adorned her face, followed by her abruptly shooting up, posing with her hands on her hips, and asserting, "Great! Just leave it to me—I'll have you out of this place in no time!"
Seemingly finished with their discussion, Professor Burnet turned and began walking toward the room's entrance. Jason thought to call out to her and remind her to have the staff bring weights or training equipment, but if she were able to get him out of the room, he wouldn't need it. Thus, he ultimately watched her depart in silence, waiting for the door to close and hermetically seal behind her before getting out of bed.
"Auwaa...?" asked the Audino, tilting her head as it hadn't been that long since Jason last relieved himself. She felt even more confused when he started doing push-ups, but since light exercise aided with recovery, she eventually smiled, nodded her head, and resumed knitting while keeping a close eye on him to ensure he didn't hurt himself...
...
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[Two Hours Later]
pssssshaka-klnkfuwaaaa
"Shouldn't you be resting right now...?" asked Professor Burnet, raising her right brow as she entered Jason's room to find him planking on his elbows and tips of his toes. Most notably, he had the Audino straddling his lower back with her feet tucked underneath her and her hands—veiled in warm, pink, revitalizing energy—in between his shoulder blades.
"I wasn't sure when you would return...and the sooner I can get stronger, the better..." answered Jason, sweat dripping from his nose onto the floor. He wasn't sure how long it would take to relocate to Alola, assuming they left that day, so he had completed a full circuit of his mandated exercises and was in the process of completing a second without feeling exhausted, all thanks to the Audino and her healing palms.
"Well, I have good news and some bad news," stated Professor Burnet, stopping precariously close to Jason's head, once again demonstrating a complete disregard for the concept of personal space as she revealed, "I was able to reach Gym Leader Korrina, and she readily agreed to come to Alola. That's the good news. The bad is that some of the hardliners on the League's Champion Council want to keep you here and under observation for a while longer. Professor Sycamore and I managed to talk them down to two weeks, but that's the best we could do."
"Mmn...I understand..." responded Jason, resisting the urge to raise his head and look up. Professor Burnet's shiny, black, almost yoga-like pants left little to the imagination, so even if she didn't care, he felt it would be improper for him to steal a peek as he raised his gaze to meet hers.
Leaving Jason feeling a slight sense of crisis, Professor Burnet sat down in front of him with her heels together and body hunched forward as she asked, "Aren't you a little too serious for someone who's only been alive nineteen years, even by your world's standards? If you're willing to share, I'm curious to hear what life was like in your world."
"Sure..." responded Jason, transitioning to a cross-legged seated position after the Audino dismounted his back. For the briefest moment, his gaze wandered somewhere it shouldn't have, but Professor Burnet either didn't notice or didn't care as she waited for him to speak with gleaming, curious eyes. She seemed genuinely interested in hearing what he had to say, so while doing his best to hold her gaze, Jason told her about his life, how he had grown up as an orphan, how he had blown through his education, and how he had built a platform around caring for people and the environment in equal measure...
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[Seven Days Later]
Though he was only able to complete forty-six circuits, even with the aid of the increasingly exasperated Audino, Jason couldn't help feeling relief as he accepted the 7,000 AP he had earned from his Quest, triggering the next in the [Laying the Foundation] line.
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Quest: [Laying the Foundation 3]
Rank: D~C [Linked]
Description: Consistent training is the foundation upon which an entity's physicality, mentality, and spirituality are built. Train hard, study hard, eat well, and rest when you must. The broader and stronger your foundation, the higher you can build atop it.
Objective(s): Complete: 100 Push-Ups(0/100), 100 Sit-Ups(0/100), 100 Squats(0/100), and 60 Minutes of High-Intensity Interval Training(0/60) at least once a day for thirty days.
Optional Objective(s): Complete five hours of HIIT in a single session, seven sessions in a row(0/7), Complete three sixteen-hour sessions of HIIT(0/3) or one twenty-hour session(0/1).
Reward: 30,000 AP
Optional Rewards: 15,000/30,000/20,000AP
Notice: Failure to complete this Quest will result in the chain being broken and no additional Quests related to the chain being issued.
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'Hmm...the Optional Rewards have decreased...' noted Jason, leading him to consider whether the System was adapting to him over time or simply being more realistic. Completing a hundred sets for the last Quest would have taken him training fourteen-to-sixteen hours a day, and while it was technically possible for him to do so, he would have needed some kind of stimulant to keep him going—not just Audino's healing hands and muscle massages.
While Jason pondered how he should invest his Free Attributes, which required two points to increase a parameter past ten, the exasperated Audino sat straddling his lower back, massaging him for the eighth time that day. Jason had never once requested her to do so, but whenever he was in between circuits, the Audino would approach and insist that he lie down so she could massage the tension out of his body. She would also try to accompany him into the bath, but he made it clear early on that he could wash himself.
"Awaaaaaa..." sighed the Audino, closing her eyes and exhaling loudly as she had never had to work harder than she had with Jason. She couldn't imagine how he would survive without her, so after opening her eyes and staring at his back for several seconds, a decision gradually took shape in her heart and mind...
Ding!
'Hmmm?'
Turning his attention to the notification that had appeared, Jason's mind blanked. It was objectively a good thing, but as he read it, the cogs in his mind gradually ground to a stop...
[Your relationship with [Unnamed] has changed to [Dependent]. Your current Bond Level is 774. Future gains will be increased by 20% for as long as this relationship remains unchanged.]
[You have acquired the conditional E-Rank Achievement: [One Who Has Been Deemed Hopeless]. 5,000 AP has been awarded.]
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